HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Michel Carrier Robert W. Emery Jack G. Copeland Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Carrier, M. Articles by Copeland, J. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Carrier, M. Articles by Copeland, J. G.

Ann Thorac Surg 1988;45:158-163
© 1988 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

---

Articles

Value of Urinary Polyamines as Noninvasive Markers of Cardiac Allograft Rejection in the Dog

From the Departments of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery and of Pharmacology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

^* Address reprint requests to Dr. Carrier, Montreal Heart Institute, 5000 E Belanger St, Montreal, Que, Canada H1T 1C8

A noninvasive marker of cardiac allograft rejection would be useful clinically. Lymphocyte proliferation and organ rejection may cause changes in urinary polyamine excretion. To test this hypothesis, cervical heterotopic heart transplantations were performed in a group of 6 nonimmunosuppressed dogs and in a group of 9 dogs treated with cyclosporine (N = 3) or cyclosporine and steroids (N = 6). A group (N = 3) having a sham operation was also studied. Serial biopsies of the transplanted hearts were performed. Urinary polyamine levels were measured daily by high-pressure liquid chromatography of urine specimens. Between 2 and 4 days after transplantation, the transplanted hearts of all animals without immunosuppression demonstrated histological rejection. An early increase in putrescine levels and in total urinary polyamine levels was observed in this group. In the treated groups, histological rejection appeared from the second to the eighth day after transplantation. Each episode of rejection occurred from 1 day to 4 days after a significant increase in urinary polyamine levels compared with the preoperative baseline level (p < 0.01). In contrast, polyamine excretion in 3 dogs after sham operations remained unchanged. Thus, urinary excretion of polyamines increases before the appearance of histological rejection; this suggests that changes in urinary polyamine levels may be a useful marker of cardiac allograft rejection.